Hello everyone. so i wanted to ask something. my laptop's hinge is broken and its difficult to use so i dont think its gonna run much longer. im thinking of getting a bb playbook wifi in order to replace my 10.1 inch hp netbook which i use like 10 hours a day. im saving money for a windows 8 pro tablet/laptop for june so need something till june instead of my almost broken laptop. i dont care about apps i hardly use apps on my windows netbook. mostly, im interested in browsing like full flash browsing facebook, hotmail etc like in a laptop. so is it a good choice and multiple tabs work well like 7 to 8 tabs sometimes at once? i hate ipad and not going for android because i have an android phone and dont want more android! after browsing, i watch movies, tv shows which i think the playbook is good for. plus a torrent client is available which is a big plus and which is why im not going for hp webos tablet because no torrent client. so can u tell me if it will be nice to get a playbook for good full browsing and watching movies and stuff?
and i also write articles and use wordpress for work. so i was thinking to get the laptop case by blackberry which turns it into a laptop but cant get it because its not available in my country and plus its very expensive at over 100 dollars. so how is the on screen keyboard? i know it wont let me write posts of 300 words once or twice a week so are there any alternatives? and does the android usb keyboard cases work with playbook? so what do u think? i might use my laptop for writing posts but laptop might die and wont be able to use it. i can get cheap bluetooth keyboards as well but i kind of wanted it to be in a case and the perfect size to act as a laptop? any other cheap cases for like 20 dollars?
thanks in advance for your help
hopefully gonna be a new bb playbook user

Re: Playbook as alternative of almost broken laptop?

pb is good at providing a full desktop experience at browsing. however it is going to lag with 7 tabs opened at once due to lower ram.
there is a wordpress app availabe for pb.
I haven't use any keyboard with however ill suggest to buy a bt keyboard ( cheap one) and get an hdmi cable to hook up ur pb on hd tv and use keyboard for typing.

thanks for the advice. im actually used to my netbook which has 1 gb ram and 1.6 ghz intel atom processor which i think is less powerful than dual core. but my phone is xperia s and it has 1.5 dual core processor but browsing is not the best even though its good. webpages dont load very fast and on my netbook, they load faster than my phone so is the playbook good in loading webpages fast? like similar to my netbook which is still not powerful at all with only 1 gb ram...even with 7 tabs my netbook lags like crazy but playbook will still be usable right even if slow in many tabs?

oh and does the playbook connect as mass storage mode? my tv supports usb playback so i can play movies and videos thorugh the playbook rather than a usb connected to my tv? hdmi option is also there but i think mass storage playbook as better

Re: Playbook as alternative of almost broken laptop? suggestions needed.

The PlayBook will be a good stand in for your broken laptop.

I have not used the pb for watching movies, or the hdmi yet, but I can tell you it has been my primary work and play "computer" for the last year+.

the keyboard is really good. I got pretty good using it in landscape mode, and now that os2.1 is here, I use the portrait mode more and more. almost all the apps now are moving to support portrait mode and really helps when working in multiple apps.

I regularly have 4-7 apps open at a time during work, and have had very little lag using any of them. the apps open range from native pb, bridged apps, and several android apps panes, and no issues.

I have a wordpress account, and although I only post sporadically, it works very well for blogging. the wordpress app for it is a great android port from Automatic, Inc. when I do post I use the native messages app, and post via email. Writing posts from email is easier, and the pb's native email is really good for setting up the post like you want.

the messages app works great. I use it to DM my facebook friends, and my LinkedIn contacts, as well as work emails/personal emails. I use the facebook app very little, but it works for what I need. I did experiment with the facbook via the browser, and found out that I could chat on it and the games work as well. (I only did it to see if I had the ability, I don't know if the games play as they do on a laptop/desktop, others could fill you in on this with a search on this board)

if you deal with any documents for work, the native docs to go app works well for viewing and editing. I did spend some money for Picsel's Smart Office for added functionality though, when dealing with ppt files.

for pdf documents, you need to get Pdf reader, or qPDF reader if you plan on doing anything more with pdf files than reading them.

for movies etc, there are others on this board that have posted how to, and their experiences.

I highly recommend the playbook to anyone. it will do most anything you need it to.

hmm then the playbook looks really good and i should buy it. is hdmi equal to the quality of a usb and the tv playing the video file directly? if anyone has suggestions of a cheap bluetooth keyboard then do tell and i wanna know if the playbook loads webpages fast as my netbook, with 1gb ram, loads pages very fast in chrome while my xperia s dual core phone takes slight more time so is playbook as fast in loading webpages on wifi as a netbook?

Javascript heavy pages can bog down the loading of webpages. You can disable it to speed things up. There's a thread on the official rim keyboard being offered for very cheap (you do wonder how they can sell it that cheaply)

Assume you have seen a Playbook in operation and know what a fine screen it has. If you are comfortable with the 7" size and you can get it at the right price you can't beat it considering the features it offers. Most Bluetooth keyboards will probably work with it for straight typing. Also supports use of a Bluetooth mouse. With the two connected it is possible to operate as a laptop using the TV as a monitor. The HDMI output to the TV will support 1030p but your TV and your connection speed might limit what you get. You don't say where you are located and what speed internet connection you have. That could be the limiting factor. Sine you can also use Android apps on the BBPB you can explore that possibility. Will country limitations hinder your access to the app store?

After using the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer since original release in April 2011 it is my considered opinion that this tablet will not only meet your stated requirements and use-case but in all likelihood will exceed your expectations. The following information in response to your message is based on my own real-life experience. Disclaimer: When a specific application or service is mentioned it is the product that I use although other options exist.

You can surf the World Wide Web with full support for JavaScript and Adobe Flash content, and the web browser can handle 7+ tabs concurrently. Watching movies stored on the tablet or streamed via the Internet or an external WiFi-enabled hard drive (Seagate GoFlex WiFi External Hard Drive - 500GB) works nicely; you can easily connect the tablet to an HDTV or HD monitor via HDMI cable with excellent audio-video playback. Watching television shows in the web browser works 99% of the time depending upon the television network's website. Editing WordPress blogs is possible using the WordPress application (Google Android ported application in BlackBerry AppWorld). If you are posting blog articles of 200+ words I highly recommend a Bluetooth keyboard. A Bluetooth keyboard and case (BlackBerry Bluetooth Keyboard and Convertible Case or Hip Street Bluetooth Keyboard and Portfolio Case; possibly a Logitech V470 Bluetooth Mouse) are recommended if a substitute for your netbook is your ultimate goal. Cloud storage is available from a number of providers (Box) and supported by file managers (Files & Folders).

well im in pakistan and there are no restrictions to apps here wanted to get the keyboard but ill have to order it from the US and it costs a lot more. so i dont have accessories here but do have the keyboards, like the keyboard case mentioned above, for the ipad which will work with the pb but not sure if it willl fit the pb in the case.getting my 64 gb playbook hopefully tomorrow thanks everyone for the help. btw everyone keeps saying the wordpress app? well i dont use much apps only might use few but i would rather use wordpress on the browser and check emails on the browser one final thing. my mini netbook is intel atom with 1.6 ghz and 1gb ram and its sloww but im used to it. while my xperia s has dual core 1.6 ghz 1gb ram and its slightly slow in browsing. so does the playbook work good in terms of performance at 1ghz dual core wth 1gb ram>?

Congratulations on getting a Playbook. A couple of maybe unnecessary tips.
The Help icon can lead you to catalogues of tips on various topics. Also Discover Now! 2.0 has some videos which may be helpful. There is also the manual which can be downloaded.
Be careful how you plug in the charger mini USB that the correct side is up, The mini USB port is type AB so that the male plug can be forced in wrong side up damaging the plug. And read this forum on how to keep your battery in good shape and for much other useful information.

I used my PlayBook for 2 weeks exclusively, without turning on my MacBook or Netbook. It worked very well, I only had to turn my laptop on to update my Lumia 710 over Zune.

I use a Logitech Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad (the Android one would work just as well I assume) for extended typing.

With my current usage, if I could have only one device on top of my smartphone, it'd be the PlayBook. That said, if I'm setting it on the table and using it for an extended period of time, a larger screen would be nice, which is why I still do use my laptop now. Even with 8GB RAM, Windows doesn't multitask as well as the PlayBook, particularly when it comes to games. If I'm playing a game I have to shut everything else down, which is enough of an annoyance that I usually don't bother doing that.

The keyboard will work, but the case won't fit, so I would not get it IF it were me. That case is designed for a 9.7 inch ipad and you will be trying to fit a 7 inch PlayBook in it. The math just don't work!

well, after all of your great opinions, i have decided to go for the playbook . my friends still dont think i should go for it but i think that there are too many advantages in a great price and also web browsing is similar to a full desktop experience thanks everyone. for the keyboard, ill keep on searching

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